Pros and Cons of Prepaid Cell Phones

Prepaid cellular service has advantages. But besides the pros,
there are cons to be aware of too. It's important to consider both
situations before you decide if prepaid service is the best for you.

PROS

Prepaying
for a fixed amount of service can help control costs, especially if you
have a tendency to use your cell phone needlessly without paying
attention to billing.

The last thing you want is to get a surprise
in the mail when your bill arrives. This will never happen with prepaid
cellular service.

You can easily control your costs by planning
ahead how much you need to use your cell phone on a monthly basis. Then
purchase the proper number of minutes (airtime) to cover your planned
usage.

You will also know when you are running low and you'll be
forced to control the length of your conversations. This is something
that's hard to do when you know that you are free to keep talking, as is
the case with a post-paid billing service.

If you don't use your
cell phone often and just want one for emergencies, a prepaid service is
definitely a good choice. Some carriers will even roll your unused
minutes forward to the next period, as long as you keep adding airtime
before expiration. Unused minutes can add up to cover those months when
you suddenly have a lot of usage.

Probably the greatest advantage
of prepaid service is that there is no contract. You can cancel anytime
simply by not adding more airtime.

CONS

Most prepaid services require that you add minutes before you run out. Otherwise you can lose your phone number.

You
need be watchful of your remaining minutes. If you run out, some
carriers will not hold your number for you to reuse at a later date.

Prepaid
cellular can be okay for talking, but if you want to use your phone for
Internet browsing or any kind of data -- such as video streaming --
then you are better off using a post-paid billing subscription service.

Data
will eat up your prepaid airtime very quick. You can prepay for
unlimited data with some carriers, but this may be very costly. Compare
options anyway, you may find one that works well for your particular
usage.

Overall, the final decision to use a prepaid service is up to you. The advantages can work in your favor if you use it right.